Honor Thy Father
by Mettespo
Summary: After a prompt from Lilcamermaid: Will's father shows up at ACN, coming face to face with Mac before Will knows he's there. One-shot, time frame approx. episode 1.06/1.07. Rated M for language
1. Honor Thy Father

It was about an hour before the last rundown meeting and most of the staff was out for their usual late lunch break.

Will was up in Charlie's office to speak about some of the promotional appearances he was contractually obligated to be available for during the next months, while Mac was talking to Gary. They were discussing how to best tackle the segment on the one-year anniversary of Obamacare for the B-block they had already agreed upon during the morning meeting, when out of the corner of her eye she noticed some commotion near the entrance of the newsroom.

Turning that way she saw Tamara talking to an apparently very agitated man of whom she could only see the back. He was definitely standing in Tamara's personal space, throwing his arms in the air, and while she seemingly tried to talk him down, not being able to move back any further, Mac got the impression that he was working himself up even more.

She apologized to Gary, who was preoccupied checking soundbites for his segement, oblivious to his surroundings, and quickly walked over to see if Tamara needed any assistence. Approaching the couple she could hear that the man was talking too loudly and that the words coming out of his mouth were slightly slurred as if he was drunk.

Mac saw relief in Tamara's face when she noticed her approaching and quickly stepped up to her. „Excuse me, my name is MacKenzie McHale, Executive Producer of Newsnight. Can I help you?"

Hearing those words the man turned around so that he was now facing her, his back showing to the door. Seeing his face Mac gasped. This man was undoubtedly an older version of Will; the same built, shade of hair, eye color and and equally strong chin. „Mr... McAvoy?"

With a hideous smile he now conveyed his full attention to her, and she could easily smell the alcohol on him. „ MacKenzie McHale..." He pointed a finger at her. „So _you're_ the damn bitch that turned my son in a liberal socialist who forgot where he's coming from."

„ _Excuse me?_ " Mac was stunned. She had heard many things about John McAvoy during her time with Will, but she would never have expected him to be so outright blunt and insulting.

„Don't get cute with me, little hosebag, you know what I mean. I need to talk to him, where is he?"

Mac took a deep breath, not intending to make a scene right here in the bullpen. She knew it would be difficult enough for Will to see his father so unexpectedly, even if he wasn't making an absolute ass of himself in front of his son's staff.

„Will is in a meeting, I don't know when he'll be back. Why don't you give me the name and phone number of your hotel and he can call you?"

She saw John McAvoy's face turn red, his nostrils flaring, and knew she had given the wrong answer, but she didn't care. She had to protect Will and their show and she knew that this was definitely not the right time for him to meet his father.

„Don't lie to me, you cocky witch, you just don't want me to talk to him. _Where is he_?"

Mac saw Tamara slowly moving to her desk and taking the phone into her hand. Good, hopefully she was calling security. Narrowing her eyes she didn't even think about backing down.  
„Mind your words, please. You're not not in a Nebraskan bar where you're behaviour might be acceptable. Will actually _is_ in a meeting with his boss, but even if he wasn't I wouldn't let him talk to you right before our show."

Hearing her publicly scolding him McAvoy's face turned into a very unbecoming shade of crimson red. „Don't you dare talk to me like that, you dickish slut!" Closing the distance between them he then raised his hand to her throat so quickly that she didn't see it coming, started to choke her and screamed „Where the hell is this rotten excuse of a son?"

Not believing what was happening Mac froze for a second, but then she grabbed Will's father's wrist and tried to pull his hand away, alas to no avail. On the contrary, his grip deliberately tightened, and he was already starting to slightly lift her up off her feet, raising his other fist threatening to hit her in the face. His fingers now clutched her neck so hard that she could not get a word out, frantically tried to breathe and her eyes started to bulge.

Mac was desperately hoping that security would hurry up or some of the staffers would notice and come to her aid, but she knew that Jim was in a meeting with graphics, Neil had the day off and Gary was probably still absorbed in his work, listening to tea party commentary on Obamacare with his headphones on and not noticing anything that was happening out of his sight.

Praying that Tamara would find some object heavy enough to hit her attacker over the head with hard enough for him to let go off her, or to at least have the presence of mind to get Gary, she felt her lungs burning from the lack of air and started to feel dizzy, colored dots dancing in front of her eyes.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

For an endless second Tamara was just standing there, not believing what was happening right in front of her. This couldn't be – Will's father showing up drunk and attacking Mac right here in front of her?

Finally she was able shake off her horror, managed to slip aside to call security and just wanted to start screaming and somehow try to pull this man off of Mac, when she noticed Will and Lonny enter the newsroom and quickly called out to them.

Will immediately saw that Mac was in trouble, being attacked by a strange man who had his back turned to him.  
„What the fuck...?" With two long strides he reached them and pulled the stranger away from Mac who tumbled backwards, promptly raising her hand to cover her throat and fighting for air. With a swift move Will turned the man around to demand an explanation and froze. „Dad?"

John McAvoy swayed a little on his unsteady legs when he looked at his son. „William! I was just showing this conniving fluzie what a..." Seeing the furious look appearing on Will's face he suddenly turned sober enough to stop talking and tried to take a step back.

His son however held onto his arm and just started to swing his fist to knock him out of his shoes when he heard Mac coughing and puffing behind him. Instantaneously his attention turned to her, and he barely took the time to shove his father towards Lonny. „Take him to my office and wait for me. Don't let him out of your sight and don't let him touch anything."

With a grim expression on his face Lonny nodded and dragged the older man, whose attitude seemed to falter at Will's reaction, towards the glass front of offices.

Will didn't even waste a further second on him but turned to Mac who was still trying to breathe properly. He quickly closed the short distance between them and carefully took her face into his hands.

„Mac... MacKenzie, are you okay?" With a concerned look his eyes roamed over her flushed skin, the teary eyes and her throat, where the first bruises already began to show.  
Mac coughed again. Not being able to speak yet she only nodded and closed her eyes.

„Let's go to your office. Tamara, you okay?" The young woman just gave him a nervous and relieved smile. „Good. Give us a moment. And ask Jim to start the rundown without us if need be." Will carefully led Mac to her office and made her sit down on the couch she had recently acquired, before quickly getting her a glass of water.

„Here, drink this, but slowly." He gently held the glass to her lips and helped her to take a few sips. Putting it down on the table he sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms.  
„I'm sorry, honey, I'm so sorry. I don't know what he wants, but I'm so sorry I wasn't here. You're gonna be fine..." He tenderly swayed her from left to right and placed her head securely under his chin, stroking her hair and whispering sweet words until he felt her relax and breathe more evenly.

Finally he put his hands on Mac's shoulders and pushed her back a little to look into her eyes, flinching when he noticed the tiny blood vessels that had ruptured because of the pressure his father had exercised on her throat. „My God, you need a doctor, Mac. We have to get you checked out. I'll take you to..."

He stopped when he saw Mac shake her head. She was not about to let Will know how scared and helpless she had felt during those long seconds his father had been choking her, and she wouldn't blow the whole scene up even more by making it official. The whole incident itself would burden and hurt him enough.

„No, I'm fine." she rasped hardly understandable, which caused another coughing fit. Reaching for the glass she swallowed more water, which seemed to help a little, though her voice still remained terribly hoarse. „I can't go to a doctor, they'd want to know what happened."

„Exactly, we have to get the injuries recorded if you want to press charges against that bastard."

„I am _not_ reporting your father to the police!" Mac vehemently shook her head again, coughing some more.

„Of course you are. You cannot let him get away with that!"

„Will, I can't lodge a complaint against him. He's your father, the tabloids would have a field day with that. And... he's your _father_!"

„I don't care. What he just did to you is exactly what he's done his whole life – To my mother, my sisters, me... I'm not watching him do this anymore, especially not to people that I lo... care about..."

Mac was so caught up in trying to clear her throat that she missed this almost-slip of his tongue. „I'm okay, my throat's just a little sore."

„What if your vocal cords are affected? You need your voice to do your job!"

„It's gonna be... _cough_... fine, Will!"

Will finally gave in and grumbled „Okay, but I'll keep an eye on you. If it's not getting better I'll take you to see a doctor..." Mac nodded, leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes. Taking the opportunity to just look at her the tenseness in his eyes made way for an overwhelming tenderness and his face softened at the sight of Mac in front of him.

Will would have never thought that his father would find a way to hurt MacKenzie. He had deliberately never taken her home to Nebraska, and as he had told her about his father's drinking, the violent tendencies and their broken childhood she had always understood. He couldn't believe that he had shown up here, in New York, and just continued where he'd left off more than thirty years ago before he had stood up to him for the first time.

Without giving it a second thought Will lifted his hand and carefully pushed a strand of hair behind Mac's ear, causing her to startle and unbelievingly open her eyes, which in return made him give her an affectionate smile. „I'm going to ask Tamara to bring you some camomile tea for your throat, and then I'll go talk to that bastard. Will you be alright?"

Mac wrinkled her nose at the mentioning of camomile tea, which she hated and normaly only drank when she was feeling really sick and couldn't taste anything anyway, but nodded her consent. „Take your time, we can do the rundown without you."

„I'll be there, this won't take long. But still... let Jim do the talking. And Mac... I'll make sure that he'll never come here again, okay?"

She gave him a grateful smile. „Thanks, Billy."

With a last squeeze to her hand Will got up, and after quickly talking to Tamara and asking the security guards who had arrived in the meantime to wait, he went over to his office. Taking a deep breath he opened the door and found Lonny guarding it, his eyes fixed on John McAvoy who had sunk down in a chair.

When the older man heard the door open he looked up and seeing the look of utter contempt on his son's face he seemed to cringe. If the situation hadn't been so serious Will would almost had laughed. He had always known that his father was a coward, only bold when fueled by alcohol.

Looking at his petty figure he thought back to all the times in the past his father had hurt, insulted and belittled him, and he knew this was it.  
„ _Honor thy father"_ , that's what he had learnded from an early age on, and despite his father's behaviour he had never been able to ignore this commandment and break with him completely. But enough was enough. A father who wanted to be honored by his family had to honor this family in return, or he didn't deserve anything from them. He would never again let his father get to him, he was through with him. And he knew he wouldn't miss him at all.

„Consider yourself lucky that Mackenzie has decided to not press charges against you. If it were up to me the police would already be here and you'd stay behind bars for a long time, seeing it would be fucking strike number three..."

John seemed to shrink. Now that he was coming down from the alcohol high he was on, he was nothing more than a miserable son of a bitch, and all tough talk had evaporated into thin air. Taking a step towards his father Will continued.

„However, I'll have you know that I will talk to my boss and have you banned on entering AWM, also my apartment building. If you ever show up again we will press charges, do you fucking get that? Don't you ever dare come close to me or any of my staff again. Same if I ever hear anything from Mary or Vic. If you don't leave them and their kids alone, I will come for you. Do. you. get. that?"

By now Will was practically hovering over John McAvoy, his voice cold as ice and determined.

„I will take sworn statements from everybody who has witnessed your stunt just now, starting with Mac and Lonny here. He's my bodyguard, by the way, who will shred you to pieces if I tell him to..."  
Will knew that Lonny knew he wasn't serious, but saw him play along by straightening himself up and starting to flex his muscles, at which his father flinched and leaned a little further in the opposite direction. Even if Lonny sometimes thought his protectee was a bastard, he had taken a liking to Mac and would do anything to keep her safe as long as it didn't interfere with the job he was paid for.

Finally John McAvoy managed to sit up a little more, the last of the alcohol in his blood making him go for a final punch. „You little pussy..." he hissed. „No real man would let a woman boss him around. Look what she's done to you. On your show you're taking apart the only persons who care about us people and this country and want to make it great again. You're embarrassing the shit out of me, I can't even go to my bar anymore without getting weird looks and people insulting me. Man the fuck up and tell this bitch to go to hell..."

Will had heard enough. He grabbed his father by his collar and pulled him out of his chair. „Get. Out. And don't forget: If you _ever_ come near me, my family or my staff again..."  
With this he shoved him out of the office and waved the two security guards to come closer. „Please take this man downstairs and make sure that he will never enter this building or linger outside again. I will clear it with Mr. Skinner."

„Will do, Mr. McAvoy." Taking John McAvoy in between them, each holding on to one of his arms, they turned around and walked towards the elevators.

Will followed them with his eyes and knew, that this was probably the last time that he had seen and talked to his father, but he didn't regret a thing. He had his family his father had never been a real part of anyway, and he had his friends, with MacKenzie and Charlie leading the way. He was old enough to know what was right for him and he would not let this petty creature continue to ruin his life.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Though Will hadn't really had the time to properly work on his script the show that evening went fine.

Jim did most of the talking and gave him the routine stuff like how many seconds until a break, but Mac still had to butt in every once in a while for specific instructions. Everytime Will heard her still croaking voice in his ear he had to put up all his willpower to not show his feelings which Mac thankfully noticed, so she tried to only talk to him while he wasn't on camera.

Afterwards Will followed Mac to her office, bringing her another cup of tea, and sat down next to her on the couch.

„How are you doing?"

„Better, thanks. Today was just crazy..." Mac shook her head and looked at him for a moment, biting her lower lip. „Say... Am I mistaken or did you call me 'honey' earlier?"

Will's breath hitched and he blinked several times before giving her a sheepish smile. „Force of habit..."

„Of course." What else should it have been, it wasn't like he still had romantic feelings for her. Or did he?

She averted her eyes the same moment Will took her hand. „It felt good though..."  
Quickly looking up again she saw a tender smile on his face, and with her heart skipping a beat and her mind going into an imaginative overdrive she carefully returned it.

Maybe something good would come out of this day after all.


	2. The Aftermath

**The Aftermath**

The weeks following John McAvoy's attack on Mac had been good.

Her voice had come back fairly soon and she had suffered no long term damage, much to everybody's and especially Will's relief.

Charlie had fully supported Will's decision to ban his father from the ACN premises and Tamara had quickly put the incident behind her as well.

Next to Mac's health though, most importantly the relationship between her and Will had rapidly improved.

Will had been tearing himself up internally that he hadn't prevented his father from hurting her. As a consequene since that day he had refrained from his usual digs and hurtful remarks, and he had also been more attentive. He had started to accompany Mac outside when she left after the show to find her a cab and sometimes even dropped her off at her place on his way home. The first times he had made it seem accidental, but Mac had soon figured out that he was calling it a day just in time so that he could escort her downstairs.

At first she had tacitly accepted it, pretending to believe in the feigned coincidences and embracing the feeling of safety, as she didn't know if Will's father might still be around. Soon though she had started to almost expect Will to leave together with her, grateful for his concern and secretly enjoying his attention, so she was surprised when for the third night in a row he was still busy working in his office when she was ready to leave this Friday evening.

Despite that he had taken the time to take her downstairs the previous nights and waited until she had been seated in a cab. Afterwards though he had gone straight back to his office to continue working.

Finally Mac wanted to know the reason why he was staying behind, so today she knocked at his door, but instead of just letting him know that she was ready to go, as he had made her promise, she stepped inside and sat down in front of his desk. When after a moment he looked up she spoke.

„What are you still doing here, Will? What are you working on so late?"

Will looked at her, but then shook his head and looked down at the papers in front of him again while speaking. „Are you ready to go home?"

Mac knew him well enough to realize that he was trying to change the subject, so she settled into the chair and crossed her legs. „Talk to me, Billy."

After a moment Will sighed and ran his hand over his face. „I'm doing research."

She frowned. „On what? You didn't tell me anything about a potential story you are looking into?"

Again Will didn't reply, but this time Mac saw that he was trying to find the right words. Finally he answered with a question. „Did you know, that last year 702.000 children in the US alone were victims of maltreatment? That more than 2% of all children under the age of one were abused? That is _88.000 babies_!"

After letting these numbers sink in Mac shook her head. „No, I didn't know that. These numbers are terrible, Billy. But why are you..." Her voice was soft and suddenly mingled with a touch of compassion when she realized his motivation. „Your father..."

It wasn't a question but rather a statement. She knew that what had happened had shaken Will and had stirred up many memories of his childhood, but she hadn't noticed before that he had been brooding over it this intensely. „Why are you researching this?"

„I checked and we didn't even mention last year's Child Abuse Report in the show, not once. Neither did we in the past years. I want to change that." He looked at Mac rather defiantly, showing her that he wouldn't except 'no' for an answer. However she actually liked the idea and didn't hesitate to let him know.

„I think that is great , Billy, why didn't you talk to me about it before? I could have helped you or at least assigned you an intern for the research."

Will shook his head. „No... no, I need to do that myself..."

After a moment Mac nodded. „I understand... When...? Children's Day is on November 20, but I assume you don't want to wait that long?"

„No, I want to do it before then; this is important, Mac." Will shook his head. „But maybe... If we add a human interest story, talk to some children about their experiences as well as to their guardian or handler from Child Services, maybe we can do a follow up on them in November?"

„I like it." Mac smiled, but turned serious again immediately. „But only if the children are deemed capable to talk about it. You will go over the questions with a psychiatrist before, you will get advise on how to talk to them, and a professional will be on the set. We don't want to harm them even more."

„Of course." Will looked back at his computer screen, a little more relaxed now that Mac had approved of his pitch, and and she used the opportunity to observe him for a moment. He looked tired and still frustrated, so finally she couldn't hold back. "Will?"

„Hmm?" His head didn't move.

„Let's go home for tonight. Why don't we meet during the weekend and work on it?"

Now he looked up. „ _We_?"

She shrugged. „I'd like to help you. As you said, this is important. But not tonight anymore, it's been a long week."

Letting his eyes roam from her face to his laptop and back to her he sighed. „Okay, let's go home."

While shutting down the computer he kept telling himself that she was right; it was late and he had worked long hours the previous nights already. „Lonny is waiting downstairs, we'll drop you off."

He was glad when she thanked him with a smile. He reassured himself that he just wanted to make sure that she got home safely and tried not to think about how he had enjoyed these last weeks during which they had grown so much closer again.

In the meantime Mac had slowly walked towards the door where she waited for him to finish up. „Why don't I come to your place tomorrow? Then Lonny can enjoy a well deserved day off?"

Thinking about it for a moment Will finally nodded his consent. „Let me just pack these papers then, we're gonna need them."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::

As agreed upon Mac went over to Will's apartment mid-morning, however not before stopping at a little bakery to pick up some bagels and donuts.

When she arrived Will had already set up his laptop and laid out his previous research on the table. „Great, perfect timing, we can start right away."

Waving the pastries' bag she nodded. „Fine, but I need coffee first. I haven't had breakfast yet, what about you?"

Will shook his head. „I'm not hungry, but go ahead."  
He had been too nervous to eat at the thought of her coming over, but he surely wouldn't let her know, so he just moved into the kitchen to start the coffee machine and then got out a plate for her to place her goodies on. While she arranged the assortment on there he got out the coffee cups. „Milk and two sugars?"

„One sugar, please." Seeing him raise his eyebrows Mac shrugged. „Tastes change. In the Middle East we often had to drink it black, so with two lumps it's too sweet for me now."

„Oh, okay..." They had never talked about her time abroad and this certainly wasn't the right time to start, not only because it still troubled him to think of Mac being in a war zone. Filling their cups he followed her to table and sat down. „Where do you want to start?

„It's your project, Will. What have you planned so far?"

Gathering his thoughts for a moment he slowly started to speak. „I have mostly done general research so far, case numbers country- and state-wide, are Child Protective Services sufficiently funded and staffed to deal with all cases, indictments and in comparison conviction rates, that sort of stuff... But I think..."

Will stopped and when he didn't continue Mac took some time to sip on her coffee before encouraging him. „You think what?"

„That's all well and good, but that would be a three minute segment and people will say _'Really? That's terrible'_ and then forget about it again. I want to do more... I thought maybe we start off with that and then make follow ups or dedicate a week or even month to child abuse. We could pick it up daily or weekly with different focal points... What do you think?"

Mac held her coffee with both hands and after thinking it over she slowly nodded. „That could work... I think we should go for five segments, Monday through Friday. If we only do it on a weekly basis the momentum could get lost, and the viewers might lose the overall picture as well as the relations between the different foci... And as you said last night we could follow some children in the aftermath, how they are trying to deal with it and find back into a normal life. Provided we get the okay from their guardian, psychiatrist and ACN legal, otherwise there's no way we will do that." She waited for Will's approving nod before she continued. „If they approve we could do follow-ups in irregular intervals with a round up on Children's Day? Or rather the day before, November 20th is a Saturday this year."

Giving her a relieved smile Will pulled out a piece of paper from the stack in front of him. „That sounds great. I made a rough draft and I would suggest that on day one we talk about the general statistics and draw attention to how many children are effected by child abuse every year. Then we should have a segment on how CPS and also NGO's are working and what they can do for the kids as well as what programmes exist to prevent child abuse. Another part should be legal consequences for the abusers... And what I would also like to cover is the psychological component – Why do adults and especially parents abuse the children, and why are the numbers so different from state to state."

„What do you mean by that?"

„Just look here," Will pointed at the computer screen. „Pennsylvania 2009, for example. about 2.7 mio children up to 18 years of age lived there, and 23.100 children were abused at least once, that is 0,83% of all children. Now take Ohio, also 2.7 mio children, but here the number of unique victims is 99.813, that is 3.68%. Where is this difference coming from? Both are Rust Belt States with a similar racial mix and economic problems, so why is there such a huge difference in these numbers?"

„Mmh... That is strange indeed." Biting her lower lip Mac frowned. „Maybe Pennsylvania has better prevention policies in place, like earlier responses at first signs of trouble, quicker interventions, more effective counseling, etc.?"

„Exactly, that's what we should find out. Maybe that could also help other states in getting their numbers down. See here, in D.C. _12,75%_ of all children, imagine that, were abused in 2009. And nationwide more than 3 mio children, that is 4,81% of all children in the US, received CPS response calls, almost 20% of them more than once!"

„These numbers are terrible, Will..." Mac carefully placed her hand on his arm and gave it a comforting squeeze, but then she paused for a second. „What exactly do your statistics define as abuse?"

„The numbers are from the Child Maltreatment Report 2009 of the DHHS. The greatest proportion of these kids, more than three-fourth, suffered from neglect. Almost 18% from physical abuse, close to 10% were sexually abused and 7.6% suffered from psychological maltreatement."  
Will stopped and then continued with a catch in his voice. „Luckily the numbers for sexual and physical abuse are on a downward trend since the 1990s, but Mac, more than 1.700 children _died_ from abuse and neglect last year. 80% of them were younger than four years old, just as 30% of all victims... Here, in the US, claiming to be the greatest country on earth... How can we let this happen?"

Will's voice almost broke at the end, and Mac knew that he was not only thinking about these poor children but also about his siblings and himself. He wasn't looking at her, so she simply moved her chair a little closer and put her arm on his back, slowly rubbing soothing circles over his sweater. „Oh, Billy..."

She wasn't convinced that it was the right thing for Will to delve into this subject all alone, but she knew it was important to him and wasn't about to ask him to stop. But she could make sure that he had support if needed. „Will, are you... Are you still seeing your psychiatrist?"

Though confused about this seemingly irrelevant question he nodded. „Why?"

„I think you shouldn't tackle this without his help; you need somebody to talk to... It might be that your past comes up to haunt you, whether you like it or not..."

Will didn't answer at first but then he bowed his head. „Yeah..."

For a while neither of them said anything. Mac had rightly noticed that Will's last word had sounded a little defeated, and she knew, that he had never really dealt with the abuse he had suffered from his father. Yes, he had regularly gone to a psychiatrist when they had been together before, but as he had admitted himself back then, it had never come to a real breakthrough. After a moment she tentatively decided to dig a little deeper.

„Say... Did you ever think about talking to your father? And that you will maybe regret it one day if you don't?"

„There is nothing we need to talk about. There is _no way_ he can justify what he did to us." Will's voice was harsh and determined, not allowing any room for the possibility that he would ever change his mind. Already during their relationship Mac had unsuccessfully tried to get him to make up with John McAvoy, and she knew it was like tilting at windmills, but still, she wasn't ready to give up.

„He is your father, Will."

„How do you...? Look at what he did to _you_ , a total stranger. He hasn't changed a fucking bit, he is a drunken bastard and always will be. Are you seriously asking me to forgive him? Because if you did, I wouldn't understand why..." He looked at her disbelievingly.

Mac shrugged and stared at the table in front of her, but quietly said „Maybe... maybe it's because I know how it feels not to be forgiven..."

For a moment they both remained quiet, then Will murmered „Mac..."

She shook her head, angry with herself for bringing their personal problems into this. „I'm sorry... I just...I didn't mean to... _Fuck_ , let me just get some air." She got up and walked out onto the terrace, leaving a confused Will behind.

Finally, after several minutes, he managed to move and slowy followed her outside.  
Mac was leaning against the balustrade, looking over to the statue of liberty, and Will could see in her face that she was beating herself up. Strangely enough he didn't like that thought, so he walked up to stand next to her, leaving a little space between them.

Clearing his throat first he spoke. „I thought we are friends, aren't we?"

After a moment of hesitation Mac nodded and answered, barely audible for Will. „Yes, for my part I consider you to be a friend. My best friend actually..."

Holding his breath for a moment he closed his eyes, but then smiled. „Me, too..."  
When Mac looked up at these words and carefully returned his smile he continued. „And I don't think that friends need to forgive each other..."

Now it was her turn to gasp and her head whipped round to look at him, but then she quickly turned her eyes back at the city. Will _had_ noticed a suspicious shimmer in the corner of her eye, though, but he decided not to mention it. Then he felt more than heard Mac releasing a deep sigh. „Do you... Do you think that maybe one day we can be more than friends again?"

There it was, a question that Will had asked himself so many times since she had come back to ACN, but especially during the last weeks since they had gotten closer again. And suddenly this question didn't seem to be so difficult to answer anymore. „Yeah, I do..."

Will was serious about what he had just said and was aware what it meant to Mac, who seemed to have frozen at his reply, but still this was getting too close to something he wasn't ready to face just yet, so after a moment of silence he decided to change the conversation back to their previous topic.

„There is a difference, Mac, between you and my father... He doesn't want forgiveness; he doesn't think he ever did anything wrong.."

Mac recognized his attempt to change the subject and indulged him, realizing that their relationship was like navigating through a labyrinth, where every step and change of direction had to be carefully considered to not get on a wrong path or worse, encounter a dead end.

„Of course, you're right... And I know that it's not my place to tell you what to do; only you can decide on how to deal with your father. Just... Please think about it carefully, I don't want you to regret it one day..."

Slowly nodding Will put his hand on her arm. „I will... But for now let's get back to work."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Over the next weeks Will and Mac kept working on the coverage of child abuse and slowly they got even closer.

During their meetings Will opened up more about his past and told her more than she already knew. He let her in on different moments where his father had beaten his sisters, his brother and him, and Mac was always there for him to listen and provide comfort in the little ways she could.

Then one Saturday afternoon, when Mac was just about to go home, Will held her back before she could step on the elevator. With a questioning look she turned around, but when she saw the look in his eyes she went completely still.

Carefully Will took her hand and entangled their fingers. „Mac... I... I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your help on this... It really means a lot to me."

Smiling she squeezed his fingers. „I'm glad to be here, Will. I'll see you tomorrow."

Trying to get on the elevator she was stopped again by him not letting go of her hand. He swallowed hard before finally speaking once more. „MacKenzie... You know I love you, don't you?"

Tears shot into her eyes, but after a short moment of shock she smiled at him nonetheless. „I do... And I love you, too..."

„Mac..." He breathed her name in relief and pulled her closer to take her into his arms. His eyes roamed over her face, taking in the bright sparkle in her eyes, the wide smile and the sudden blush in her cheeks. Returning her smile they simply looked at each other for while, contemplating what this moment meant for them, before Will finally put his arms around her waist and leaned in for a gentle kiss.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

„You did well today, Billy, really well..."  
Mac had followed Will who had walked straight to his little bar to gulp down a drink and then fell down onto the couch, let his head fall back and closed his eyes.

Standing in front of him she thought back to the day they'd had. They had gone to a shelter for abused mothers and children who had escaped the mistreatment from their spouses and fathers. Several women, some bringing their children, had agreed to talk to Will about their experiences after being guarantueed anonymity and given the promise that no full names and whereabouts would be mentioned.

Will had spent many days working out the questions he would ask beforehand, accompanied and counseled by two specialised psychiatrists, and today had been particularly rough for him. Especially meeting Alex, a little boy of five years, who had repeatedly been beaten so badly by his father that he had been in need of hospital treatment, concussions and broken bones being only some of the injuries he had suffered, had shaken him to his core.

Mac had been with Will the whole time, and she had seen that his façade started to wear thin in the course of the day, and that he had been close to breaking down. Now he was beat and raw emotions were running threw him. After a moment she sat down on the coffee table in front of him, put one of his feet in her lap and took off his shoe and sock. Repeating this with his other foot she then moved onto the couch, snuggling against his chest and putting her hand on his cheek. „You did really good."

Lifting his arm around her shoulder and running his fingers through her hair, an action that had always managed to calm him down, he hummed tiredly. „You don't think it was a bad idea after all? That it brought back too many painful memories for the kids?"

„No, you did fine, just right. You have been compassionate, not too serious, and most importantly you didn't make them feel as if they did anything wrong. And you know that Dr. Collins would have intervened if she'd had the impression it was too much for them."

„Yeah..." Will sighed. „This little boy, Alex... He really got to me, you know? I mean, all of them did, but especially him..."

„I know, Honey..." Mac let her hand glide down to his chest. „He reminded you of yourself, that was very obvious..."

„Yeah..." Repeating himself he covered her hand with his own as if to pull strength out of the touch. „Our father has done terrible things to us, but what this little guy has gone through... I just wish I could help him..."

After a moment of silence Mac moved a little and looked up at his face. „Why don't you?"

Frowning Will opened his eyes to meet her gaze. „What do you mean? How would I be able to help him except through raising awareness?"

„Exactly. You can alert the public to the problem of child abuse. You can throw light on what so many children have to live through and you can do even more. You can initiate programmes to recognize and fight abuse, and you can help children to find their way back and forget. Billy, why don't you start a foundation? The _Will McAvoy Foundation Against Child Abuse_ , the WMFCA."

Will couldn't help but stare at Mac, his eyes big and he himself at a loss of words, until he finally recovered. „Mac... That is.. It's _brilliant_! Why didn't I think of that?"

„Well, sometimes you miss the forest for the trees, so luckily I'm here for that." She winked but then she was distracted by the hard kiss he pressed to her lips.

„Luck indeed. God, I love you, Mac!"

* * *

.

All numbers and statistics are taken from the

Children Maltreatment Report 2009 of the US Department of Health & Human Services (remove empty spaces from link below):

www. acf. hhs. gov/ sites/ default/ files/ cb/ cm2009. pdf


	3. Day of Foundation

**Day of Foundation**

The moment Mac had mentioned her idea of starting a foundation against child abuse all of Will's exhaustion had been forgotten, and they had immediately started to throw around ideas about what they wanted to accomplisch. Once they had a first handle on that they had written down names of people who might be able to assist in setting up the foundation and, at a later stage, help to run it.

The preparations had taken a long time, partly because of everything that had been going on at work and also in their private lifes, which didn't allow them to devote all their spare time to it. Now though, almost a year later, they were in the final stages of the process with the legal requirements mostly having been dealt with, implemention of the first programs that had been worked out by experts, part of whom would continue supporting the foundation after its launch, and the physical side of everything – staff, quarters, etc. - being set up and ready to go.

Will however had already started his personal 'project' and had become an inoffical big brother to Alex, the little boy that had touched him so deeply during the Newsnight special on child abuse. With his connections he had helped his mother, a former paralegal, to find a job, so that she and her son could move into a small apartment, and whenever his time allowed he spent some time with Alex, mostly during the weekends.

Alex was a quiet, smart boy, a little introverted, who liked to read – which he did very well for his age – and was in general curious about the world, asking all kinds of questions. He wasn't the athletic type;. He _liked_ to play outside, but he had no ambitions at all and wasn't very talented at sports either; something his father hadn't been able to accept, which was one reason for him getting physical.

Will had patiently taught him the basics of baseball and basketball. Sometimes they shot hoops, as much as his knees allowed, or played soccer in the park, simply having fun. They went for Hot Dogs, visited the playground and sometimes they went to the Museum of National History or other places of interest for a young boy, and on those days Mac, who had also taken a liking to Alex, would often accompany them.

Slowly Alex had opened up to them, and most of the time he was a typical six year old boy. In fact, if it hadn't been for the scars on his body and the occasional moments in which he was a little withdrawn, he was simply a boy who was enjoying himself.

However, his mother Jayla had told Will that her little boy still had nightmares on a regular basis, and he knew from his own experiences that these would accompany Alex for a long time to come. So he had talked to his own psychiatrist, Jacob Habib,, who had recommended Dr. Susan Lieberman, a child psychologist who had been working with Alex for the last months. She had agreed to offer the sessions at a very low rate Alex' mother could afford, while Will secretly made up for the difference.

It was a temporary agreement, as Alex would be the first child to enter some of the foundation's programs, including psychological care which Dr. Lieberman would continue to provide, so that the boy wouldn't have to get used to another therapist.

Habib himself would also be a part of the foundation once it was up and running; trusted by Will he would be part of the board of directors and he had also helped in the selection process of psychiatrists who would work for them.

During the last couple of months though, Will had neglected Alex a little, as the day of foundation, celebrated with an fundraiser on Saturday as well as a community party for kids and their families the day after, was around the corner. A lot of arrangements had to be dealt with during the last week before the openening, but then, three days before the party, John McAvoy had died during that night's broadcast.

Mac had been incredibly supportive, during the show itself when she had convinced him to try and call his father at the hospital, only for him to find out that he had succumbed to a heart attack. But also afterwords at home, when she had just held him and was there for him, while he didn't even know what he was feeling.

At one point she had suggested to postpone the fundraiser to go to Nebraska for the funeral, but he had declined. He had't forgotten anything his father had done to him and his siblings, nor his latest performance at ACN, attacking MacKenzie, which was still too fresh in his mind. So he had been right; that day remained the last time he had seen his father, but he found that he didn't mind. He also wouldn't have minded if his father had lived long enough to see what his son was about to do for other abused children.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The night before the party Mac found Will sitting at their dining table and called for him from the other side of the room, her voice sleepy. „Will, what are you doing? Come back to bed."

When he didn't react she walked up to him and put her arms around his neck from behind, pressing a kiss into his hair. „What are you doing, Billy? Everything is ready, we have made sure of that."

With a sigh he took one of her hand and kissed her palm. „I know, I'm just... I felt that I had to re-write my speech for tomorrow, make it more personal."

Sliding around him Mac sat down on the chair next to him. „You don't have to, Will, you know that... The speech you have written is good, really good... It's just the right amount of serious and funny, it's emotional and moving... It's _good_."

„Yeah, but you know what's been missing...? I did mention my childhood in passing, but I didn't say anything about how it effected my whole life. I think if I want the people to open their wallets they have a right to know. Don't you?"

Mac looked at him for a moment and then stroked his cheek. „Like I said, the first version is good, but if you feel this is something you have to do, then do it."

„Thanks, Honey." Will smiled at her and saw that she hesitated to go on. „What is it, Mac?"

Taking his hand she let her thumb run over his knuckles. „Billy... You do know that once you talk about it the press, and especially the likes of Nina Howard from TMI, will be all over it, right?"

Will frowned „I know... But I feel it's something I need to do... I'll deal with the consequences when we get there. Why don't you go back to bed, I'll be fine."

Nodding Mac got up and leaned down for a kiss. „You know where I am if you need me. Don't stay up too long, tomorrow will be a long day. It's already past two in the morning."

„I won't, thanks, Hon."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 

Will had finally come to bed at about 5 a.m., so Mac decided to let him sleep as long as she could. She was tempted, but resisted to take a look at his notes, thinking it had to be his decision if he wanted her to read his new speech up front.

In the end they didn't even have time for a quiet breakfast to start off this busy day, let alone anything else, as she had to wake up Will at around noon so that he could get ready for the first commitments of the day.

After a quick shower, followed by a cup of coffee and a bagel with cream cheese they grabbed their attire for the night and took a cab to the foundation headquarter.

When they arrived they took a moment to admire the brand new sign that hung over the entrance door; white letters on a navy blue backdrop with a smiling sun in the upper right corner:

 **McCARE Foundation**

Child Abuse - Rehabilitation & Education Center

„This looks wonderful, Billy." Mac squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

„It does, doesn't it? Let's hope it works out as planned." Will returned her smile, but she could see his nervousness shining through and soothingly let her hand run up his arm.

„It will, I am sure, Honey. You put so much thought into this, and you're ready to fight for these kids; people will see that and support you."

Will was quiet for a moment but then he turned to face her and let his arms slide around her waist, his voice soft. „Just like you... You know that I couldn't have done this without you, right?"

Pulling him down for a quick kiss Mac then rested her hand on his cheek. „That is debatable, but I am glad I could help. Let's go inside, the others will be waiting already."

She was right; as soon as they entered the building they ran into Leona, Charlie and Nancy, all three of whom had just like Habib agreed to join them as part of the Board of Directors of the foundation, completed by renowned psychiatrists as well as a couple of financial and legal experts. It was important for Will to share this tremendous responsibility with people he trusted, and he knew that they wouldn't let him and the kids down. The daily operation though would be run by a balanced team with ample experience in the social field as well as the managerials skills needed.

They had set up a last meeting to discuss the final details with the staff, who would start their work the following Monday. Afterwards Will and Leona were expected at a press conference open to any media outlet, while only a handful of journalists had been invited to report on the evening's launch party and fundraiser. One of them Tony Hart from ACN's morning show, a compromise born fro the fact that of cause Charlie, fully supported by Mac, did not want to allow Will to cover his own foundation, but had no problem to use their own network to get a little publicity.

So, while Leona and Will dealt with the press, Mac and Charlie were supposed to go to the restaurant where this evening's festivity was going to take place to supervise the preparations. Leona had graciously donated the services of the event planer usually hired for any AWM event on the East Coast, who was responsible for all arrangements except the food served at the party, which was provided by the restaurant's chef.

Everything went smoothly and at a quarter to seven they were all dressed up and ready for the party to begin.

Of course the complete Board of Directors as well as some of the higher ranks were in attendence, and shortly past seven the first guests arrived, a well-balanced mix of politicians, news and show biz personalities as well as members of the New York high society.

Sloan, Don and Elliot with his wife were there, Terry Smith and a couple other anchors had come up from Washington D.C., and Mac had even insisted on inviting Erin Andrews. That was something Will still didn't quite understand, but Mac had assured him that she was secure in his love and no, she didn't feel jealous or threatened. She had argued that it was just like if they would invite Wade, but at this point Will had drawn the line, admitting that he couldn't be sure not to punch him in the face if he ever saw him again.

Walking from group to group Will and Mac as well as the other officials made some small talk, but then Richard Hatman, Managing Director of McCare, signaled them that all invitees had arrived. After a moment Will apologized to the couple they were talking to and lead Mac in the direction of the little podium at the other end of the room.

„Well, I guess that's it..."

Mac smiled at him, though looking a little worried, and took his hand. „You are sure you want to do that? You don't have to go into details about your past, you know that, right?"

Looking at her for a moment Will sighed. „Yeah, I do... Just sit where I can see you okay?"

„Of course." Leaning up she pressed a loving kiss to his lips and then softly rubbed a little smudge of lipstick off with her thumb. „I love you, Billy."

With a last squeeze of his hand she went over to the others and told them to quietly walk around the room and ask their guests to sit down at their designated tables, which gave Will a few more minutes to collect his thoughts and take a last look at his notes.

A few minutes later, while the last guests were taking their seats, Will entered the podium, microphone in hand, and with a last look at Mac he took a deep breath and started to speak.

„My dear friends, tonight is a very special night and we all are deeply honored to have you as our guests here at the NoMad Rooftop for the opening of the McCARE Foundation, acronym for 'Child Abuse - Rehabilitation & Education'."

Friendly applause filled the room and Will had to wait for it to quieten down again before he could continue.

„Please allow me to say a few words about how it all came about. But first of all, on behalf of all of us from McCare, I would like to take the opportunity to thank my dear friend Vice President Joe Biden as well as New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Mayor Michael Bloomberg for joining us tonight."

Interrupted by applause again Will paused and let his gaze roam across the faces of their guests before again settling his eyes on Mac, who smiled and gave him an encouraging nod, so after taking a deep went on.

„There are so many more people that I would like to thank for their countenance and support in setting up this foundation, including our Board of Directors, the staff, but also the city of New York for its sometimes unbureaucratic handling of details and smooth approval processes. But one person was at the heart of everything - My wonderful wife McKenzie McHale McAvoy.

Without her we wouldn't be here tonight. She was not only at my side every step of the way, but this foundation was her idea, so please join me in my appreciation of her support and guidance." Clapping his hands he was joined by the other people in the room, causing Mac to blush adorably. She nodded her thanks to the people around her, but her eyes pleaded for Will to continue and after a minute he obliged.

„Originally I had planned to only say a few words but then I felt that I need to give you a little more information on what led us here tonight..." Will paused and looked down at the notes in his hands, forcing his fingers to relax before he continued.

„I have never before openly talked about this and only very few people know about it, but the reason we sat up 'McCare' is that my siblings and I ourselves have been victims of child abuse, and I now that I can I finally want to do something for other victims... The truth is, that our father was an alcoholic, who belittled and beat our mother and us regularly, and neither did she have the strength to fight him nor were there places we could go for help or shelter; not in rural Nebraska in the 1960s." He heard some murmering and single gasps coming from the audience, but didn't let himself get distracted.

„This went on until I was about eleven, twelve years old and hit back for the first time to protect my little sister Victoria. That made him stop, at least while I was around... Don't get me wrong, I am not condoning solving situations like this with violence, as much as the abusers deserve it, but for us, at that time, there was no other way out."

The room was very quiet now and all attention was focused on Will, while he gave into the illusion that he was only talking to Mac. The handful of reporters who had been invited to report on the fundraiser were recording every word with their devices and busy taking notes for a short Q&A scheduled for later. After letting his gaze roam across the room he looked at Mac again, his voice raw.

„The name 'McCare' speaks for itself. My wife and I as well as everybody who worked with us so hard over the past months to get this foundation on its feet, want to help the weakest in our society. We want to give children, who are going through the same ordeal as me and so many others, be it physical, mental or sexual abuse, the chance to leave that life behind them and start a new future.

Being mistreated by your father or mother, or any other person who is supposed to love and care for you, leaves scars, visible and invisible, the latter often more severe and with longer lasting effects than the physical remnants.

I myself found that I am very protective, often overprotective, of the people I love, be it my wife, my family or the young staffers in our newsroom. If that was the only mark the years of maltreatment had left, I wouldn't complain. But it also made it very difficult for me to open up to people, to let them in, to trust them and ultimately to forgive them if they had betrayed this trust. This almost resulted in losing the love of my life, and only thanks to her unbelievable patience and also the years of therapy I finally got to a point where I could put the past behind me and not let it influence the present anymore."

By now it would have been possible to hear a pin drop onto the floor, and seeing a single tear running down Mac's cheek he smiled at her.

„But not everybody is as lucky as I am. Not everybody has people in their lifes that support them unconditionally and are strong enough to act. Not everybody can afford much needed treatments and therapy, but all to often victims of abuse end up in a viscious cycle, even mistreat their own children. We want to prevent that. We want to help children to process what has happened to them and get them to a point where they can live a normal life, without being haunted by their past.

It's not easy, I can tell you that... After I had left Nebraska about 30 years ago I had never again spoken to my father until about a year ago, and that was under very unpleasant circumstances... If you have happened to watch NewsNight a couple nights ago you might have noticed that there was a moment of silence at the end. That night, during the show, I received the news that my father had been admitted to the hospital and died a short time later.

My wonderful wife MacKenzie" Will smiled again and pointed in her direction. „who also happens to be my executive producer, had tried for a long time to get me to talk to him, but I never could. I never _wanted to._ However, that night, during a commercial break, she urged me again, saying it could be the last chance for us to settle things. In the end I did try to contact him, but it was too late.

What makes this so astonishing to me is that last year he had attacked her, a total stranger to him. That was the day I last saw my father. And yet MacKenzie is capable of forgiveness, a trait that I am so thankful for. Believe me, I have been the beneficiary of this a lot of times..." The audience laughed at this, relieving a little of the subdued tension in the room. „...but when even after this incident she still tried to get me to talk to my father I couldn't understand it...

Have I forgiven him? Definitely not. But maybe I will finally be able to make my piece with him. I now know that he will never be able to hurt me or my family again, but so many victims, especially children who can't just walk away, are trapped in their nightmares. This is why we are here today."

Interrupted by vivid applause he raised his hand, asking for silence. „Just one quick note on the name of the foundation, McCARE. We debated for a long time about names and acronyms, knowing that the latter needs to be catchy but also send a message. We believe we have found the right name. First of all we _do_ care, just as hopefully all of you do. And the 'Mc'..." Now Will's face sported a boyish grin.. „Well, you could see it as a reference to my wife, McKenzie McHale, and myself, but actually there are two other reasons we went with this name.

First of all it is hopefully appealing to young people, so that this will encourage them to come to us for help. And also, with regard to another large franchise, we like to take it as a motivation to one day expand this foundation beyond the borders of New York. Once we we are up and running here and have ironed out any possible glitches, we would like to open McCare centers in other cities and also rural areas in states with high numbers of abused children." Again loud clapping interrupted him, and this time he waited for it to subside.

„To come to an end... I have told you about my past and why it is so important to me to help others in the same situation, because there _are_ so many others... The numbers are staggering; just to give you an idea: According to the DHHS in 2009 the overwhelming number of 702.000 children in this country were victims of abuse at least once and many of them even multiple times. Last year it was almost 690.000, and these are only the official numbers; we don't know how many cases are never reported." Pausing Will let theses numbers sink in.

„We claim that America is the greatest country on earth, so I say we, who love this country, need to do something against this." Again Will raised his hands when his audience interrupted him, and he continued with a fiery voice.

„First ad foremost we need to help these children, but we also need to raise awareness and educate the public about child abuse, it's consequences and most importantly, offer assistence, support, counselling and solutions for affected families. We need to let the victims know that this is nothing to be ashamed of, and that they must not try to find excuses for husbands, parents and yes, also wifes. And no child should ever think that being abused by a parent or guardian is something they provoked or even deserved! Whatever one has done, _nothing_ justifies abuse of any kind, ever!"

Once more Will's words were disrupted by applause, and this time he waited until the commotion subsided before he gave his audience a wide, roguish grin.

„I assume I have to get used to begging from now on, and I truly hope that I will have at least a few friends left in this room at the end of this evening." This time laughter filled the room and it took moment before he could go on.

„We are asking for your help, and you know that means we are asking for your money to support this cause; the bigger your cheque, the better! But we are also inviting you to become an official patron of McCARE; every membership and also every offer to maybe act as an honorary brother, sister or grandparent helps us to help more children. So please; take a heart! My colleagues and I will gladly answer any questions you have, tonight or at any later date. Thank you very much and please enjoy your dinner."

The whole room broke into standing ovations while Will left the make-shift stage with a bow and went to Mac's table right in front of it. She already stood when he arrived, clapping wildly but then pulling him into a hug to whisper in his ear. „You were wonderful, Billy, I am so proud of you!"

He didn't answer but pressed her to him for a moment before letting go and turning to the other people around them who had also risen. After taking their congratulations he asked them to take their seats again, so that the waiters could start to serve.

After an exqiusite 3-course meal people started to mingle and everybody working for 'McCare' talked to potential supporters, quickly noticing that Will's speach had moved hearts and consequently opened cheque books.

The guests almost stood in line to be able to talk to Will, even if it was only for a few encouraging words or a declaration of support. Finally he was able to move out of the spotlight for a moment, withdrawing into one of the darker corners so that he could overlook the room while trying to relax a little for the first time since before his speech.. After a few minutes though he was joined by Jacob Habib, who simply shook his hand. „Looks like you had your coming out tonight. How are you feeling?"

„Exhausted, and not only because of a lack of sleep..."

Habib nodded. „Understandable, this was quite an emotional drain, especially with everything that happened during the last days. But... You do realize that now that your past is out in the open, people will talk about it and continue to ask questions?"

Will sighed. „Yeah, Mac already warned me about that. But I just had to do it, can you understand that?"

Slightly bowing his head Habib smiled at him. „I do. I think over the last years and especially the last twelve months you have made great progress. You are not bitter anymore and can open up to strangers, and I am sure having reconciled with MacKenzie helped a great deal with that. That you are able to openly talk about your father is another step on the road you're taking, and I would say you are nearing its end."

„What do you mean?"

„I mean that you have removed most of the influence your father's doing had on your personal life. You are happily married, and now you are able to channel any residual anger into helping others. Well, most of it for now, but you are on a good path."

Running his hands over his face Will sighed again. „Sounds good when you say it, but at the moment I don't really feel anything."

Habib put his hand on his shoulder. „That is normal, but you will over the next days. And if you need to talk then, you know where you'll find me."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

When they arrived home in the middle of the night Will tossed his jacket onto the couch and headed straight for the bar, asking Mac what she wanted. However, she followed him and took the bottle of Bourbon straight out of his hand. „How are you feeling?"

Will let his eyes follow the way the bottle took, but then just looked at his wife for a moment, letting his posture slump. „Empty..."

„Oh, Billy..." Putting the bottle back in its place she put her arms around him. „I know..."

Will rested his head in the crook of McKenzie's neck and they simply stood in their embrace for quite some time. Finally Mac whispered into his shoulder „I meant it earlier, I am so proud of you! I wish you Vic and Mary could have been here for this."

„Me, too, but I understand they are busy with the funeral... Do you think my speech was okay?" His voice sounded hesitant and when Mac moved her head back a little she could see some doubt in his eyes.

„You were wonderful, you truly were. But even if anybody doesn't think so, as long as you are fine with what you said everything else is none of their business. But if you need any proof, I can tell you that at least half of the women whipped out their handkerchief and dabbed _something_ from their eyes at one point or another. And look at the cheques they gave you..."

„I didn't just talk about my past tonight to raise money, Mac. I... I just felt that I needed to do ; it somehow seemed to be a another step for me to get to a point where the memories won't hurt that much anymore."

„I know, Honey... I talked to Dr. Habib and he said you might want to talk to him sometime soon. Do you think that would be a good idea?"

„Yeah, I guess so..." Will sighed, sounding tired.. „But do you think we can allow all this to rest for now ? I am exhausted..."

With a kiss to his cheek Mac let go off him and took his hand. „Of course. let's go to bed, Billy. Tomorrow you'll see the kids, that will make you feel better."


End file.
